閱讀測驗 41-43
Michael Segell’s 2005 work on the history of the saxophone, titled The Devil’s Horn cites a public
statement from the Vatican saying that the saxophone was “scandalous,” a strange description indeed for
a lifeless piece of metal!
It is fitting then that the saxophone has come to be associated with the rock and roll and jazz worlds.
These musical styles were born in controversy and they have always attracted rebels and
nonconformists – much like the saxophone. At the time of its invention, the saxophone was actively
suppressed by competition from other musical instrument makers. They attacked Adolph Sax, the
inventor of the saxophone, constantly; stealing his equipment, burning down his factory and even
making attempts on his life. Perhaps their most successful tactic was to have the orchestral musicians
union threaten a strike if the saxophone was accepted into regular orchestral ensembles. As a result of
these tactics, the saxophone failed to find a firm foothold in the classical world. Although there have, of
course, been notable individual exceptions, such as the saxophone solo in Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an
Exhibition.
Nonetheless, despite the opposition of the traditional musical world and of the church, the
saxophone continues to re-invent itself as an instrument for the modern age. Perhaps this is because Sax
dreamed of making the most flexible of instruments. He wanted to combine the “power of the brass”
instruments with the “flexibility of the strings” and the “tonal variety of the woodwinds”, and he
succeeded, perhaps even more so than he knew. Although the saxophone is still an outsider in the
classical world, it has come to be the most widespread and popular of the winds. It appears in virtually
every country and musical style all around the world. Turkish, Asian and Arabian musicians have all
made the instrument their own. Amusingly, the most powerful symbol of Sax’s eventual success comes
from the classical world. When the trumpet part of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto number 2 proved to be
too difficult, the legendary saxophonist Marcel Mule stepped in and recorded it.
【題組】42. What musical style was NOT specifically mentioned in the article?
(A) classical music (B) country music (C) popular music (D) jazz music
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